Welcome
Meeting together through the power of Prayer
and the Word of God our spiritual lives are strengthened and refreshed.
Welcome
Meeting together through the power of Prayer
and the Word of God our spiritual lives are strengthened and refreshed.
Brief History of the Pastors’ Prayer Summit Movement
1992- 2025 In the Greater Philadelphia Area A Mighty Work of God for Over 33 years
For over 33 years, since its founding in 1992, Pastors’ Prayer Summits of Greater Philadelphia has hosted annual Pastors' Prayer Summits each year. Our goal has been to provide a life-changing experience where God’s servants can be refreshed and renewed. A Prayer Summit is where pastors, their spouses, and ministry leaders from across the region gather together in a place of serenity to share in prayer personally, collectively, confidentially, and unceasingly. An encounter with God where God’s servants are called to ‘come away and rest awhile’ with Jesus, sitting at His Feet, to hear The Lord and be renewed in His Presence. Since its inception, the Pastors' Prayer Summit has served as a respite for pastors, leaders, and spouses to be revitalized in Christ in an environment that is nourishing to the spirit, mind and body.
Dr. Joseph Aldrich & Rev. Terry Dirks, led by God, were the founding fathers of Pastors’ Prayer Summits
Pastors’ Prayer Summits, although they were birthed from the Prayer Committee of the 1992 Greater Philadelphia Billy Graham Crusade, did not originate in the Greater Philadelphia region, They began in Oregon in 1989 as God led Dr. Joe Aldrich, president of Multnomah Bible College and Seminary, to cast the vision for Pastors’ Prayer Summits. Dr. Aldrich wondered, “What would it take to initiate and sustain a significant work of God in a specific geographical community? In other words, what would it take to see John 17 lived out in answer to the Son’s prayer?” He believed the answer to his questions would come about through a five-part process: holiness, humility, unity, community, and impact.
Dr. Aldrich invited Terry Dirks to join him in what was then referred to as Northwest Renewal Ministries. In February 1986, Dirks returned to Multnomah, where he had graduated twenty years earlier, to assist Dr. Aldrich in seeking the fulfillment of the vision.
The goal of bringing together the critical mass of pastors from a specific geographic community for several days of seeking the Lord was talked about for years before the vision resonated with the hearts of pastors in nearby Salem, OR.
At the request of pastors in Salem, Dr. Aldrich and Dirks facilitated the first prayer summit in 1989. Since then, the movement, now referred to as International Renewal Ministries, has expanded to reach across the United States and into more than twenty other nations. (International Renewal Ministries: The History of IRM website)
The Providential Connection Between Portland, Oregon and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In 1992 the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association planned two evangelistic crusades in the United States, one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the other in Portland, Oregon, in the fall, Under the leadership of Rev. Rick Marshall, North American Director for Billy Graham Crusades, and director of the Philadelphia Crusade, Dr. Joe Aldrich was invited to speak to pastors in late fall of 1991 on how to prepare the Greater Philadelphia area for the June crusade.
Dr. Joe came and shared his vision for Pastors’ Prayer Summits with the pastors, and they were moved. Chairing the local formation committee for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association were Dr. Bill Moore and Hon. Nelson Diaz, the first “minority” chairs ever of a Graham crusade. Thanks to Rick Marshall’s leadership, 11 members of the Philadelphia Crusade’s Administrative Committee were sent to Portland, OR, to participate in Portland’s Pastors’ Prayer Summit at Cannon Beach, OR, in early January 1992. It was a Prayer Summit gathering of pastors and leaders to seek the Lord and pray together.
God powerfully moved with Pentecostal power in the hearts and lives of these 11 brothers during and immediately following that Summit, and they returned to Philadelphia with hearts ablaze to call pastors to pray and find God’s renewing power in their lives.
As result of Portland’s prayer summit, Rick Marshall and the 11 men from Philadelphia—Rev. Paul Chaya, Rev. Glenn Blossom, Rev. Lin Crowe, Judge Nelson Diaz, Rev. Larry Dunn, Rev. Rick Marshall, Dr. William B. Moore, Rev. Ernest Morris, Rev. Gus Roman, Rev. Benjamin Smith, and Rev. Calvin Thomas who traveled to Portland, were changed, they became brothers. God used them to become the heart of the Greater Philadelphia Billy Graham Crusade - a crusade that God used to bless many souls with salvation and grace.
Following the Crusade, these men became the founders of the Greater Philadelphia Renewal Ministries which has joined with the Philadelphia Leadership Foundation and is now Pastors’ Prayer Summits of Greater Philadelphia,
As the Lord Guided...
The first Pastor’s Prayer Summit in Philadelphia was held prior to the Billy Graham Crusade in the spring of 1992 and the second one was held in the fall of 1992. Pastor’s Prayer Summits have taken place every year since. As the Lord guided the Pastors’ Prayer Summits, the summits have expanded to include pastor’s spouses, women in ministry and ministry leaders.
Philadelphia’s Prayer Summits are diverse with a number of denominations, races and cultures in attendance. Dr. Joe’s vision of bringing unity among God’s people through prayer has become a reality.
As the Prayer Summits have grown, the Lord has raised up additional leaders and facilitators. In addition to the Brothers, Rev. Bob Santilli,
Rev. John Grove, Rev. Karen Murray, Rev. John Parker,
Rev. Dan Amey Rev. Otis Banks, Dr. Craig Turley and his wife Kim,
Rev. Paul James and his wife Rev. Christine, Rev. Fred and his wife Diana Estrada, Maripat Loprete, Shibu Oommen, Rev. Adam T. Parker,
Don Spooner, Rev. Evelyn Barnes and Rev. Neil Chadwick
all answered the call to servant leadership.
And we cannot forget the late Rev. Al Oldham,
Executive Director Emeritus of Harvey Cedars Bible Conference,
who faithfully hosted our Pastor’s Prayer Summits
from1992 until his passing in in 2023.
And Continuing Across the World…
Pastors’ Prayer Summits have affected many pastors, their spouses, families and congregations since the first prayer summit. Many of our facilitators have been invited to other cities to facilitate prayer summits both in our country, as well as foreign countries. To date over 2,000 Prayer Summits have been conducted in ‘Summit Communities’ all across the United States and many countries of the world, including Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, Russia, Jamaica, Belize and others.
Additionally, ‘ambassadors’ from other countries would attend a four-day Pastors Summit and, being so dramatically affected by the experience of a holy encounter with God, they would return to their respective countries and begin to in initiate a ‘Summit style’ experience of meeting with God with other heart seekers in their local communities.
Stories are far too numerous to begin to give proper account to the impact the Pastors Prayer Summits have had over the years in cities and countries around the world. From policies adopted in the Australian government allocating funding for on-campus chaplains in high schools across the nation to local city councils across the U.S. requesting pastors to open their meetings with a prayer and inspirational thought, this movement has been impacting cities with leadership level prayer, leading to unity, leading to revival, leading to real and positive societal changes over 30 years.
A Holy Convocation of the People of God
By God’s Good Graces the “Movement” has successfully avoided the pitfalls of becoming programmed and forced into the mold of another conference, workshop, program or an event for an events sake. The purpose has always been that of - “Seeking the Face of God, listening to His Voice and waiting upon Him for a heaven-sent visitation of God and revival of the Church resulting in widespread evangelization of the lost, leading to visible changes in society” -
Dr. Joe Aldrich.
To this day the role of Summit facilitation and the Servant-Leader Team is to maintain the purity of simply meeting with God and with no other agenda but that of Seeking Him passionately in Prayer – and throughout the course of these many years of Summits here in Philadelphia The Lord has honored that ‘zeal for Him and Him alone’ by manifesting His Holy Presence in very real and life-changing ways. Newfound passion, increased heart hunger, greater fervency in intercession and renewed zeal for the lost are but a few of the hallmarks of those that
set aside precious time to meet with God.
In the words of Rev. Paul Chaya, the longtime and highly esteemed leader of the Summit Movement here in Philadelphia - ‘‘A prayer summit is not something you check off your activities list, it is a life-transforming meeting with the living Savior who wants to give you fresh grace for the work He has called you to do. God has been faithful for several decades in blessing His servants, may He do so this week…”
May you too be Blessed in experiencing the joy of
meeting God at this Pastors Prayer Summit Movement.